zeitguy
27-Feb-2011, 09:04
I am evaluating an old, but good, Calumet which I believe is called the C401 == 26" pipe-style monorail view. All the detents and set screws and focus gears etc work. The bellows seems fine. I am working on a vanishingly small budget, and was given the front and rear cells of a 90mm f8 Super Angulon to rehabilitate.
Mounting this lens in a new compur #0 in a recessed board gives me enough coverage and play to use the lift and tilt enough to justify some effort in landscape and architectural photography.
The problem, which is appearing quite serious, is that the lens board and its mount, in the short bellows configuration, is not supported by the natural friction of the rack and pinion gear that elevated and lowers the lens relative to the focal axis. It is too stiff and heavy, or the rack and pinion arrangement is in need of some adjustment or repair. I suspect the latter. If I let the camera sit on its own, the front slips down in the standard of its own weight no matter how extended the bellows are.
I tried a shim with wood, afraid that metal might mar the guide opposite the actual rack and pinion gear. It lasted a few minutes, enough to take one exposure if the front lens board carrier is dead level with the front support. But that doesn't solve the problem of using lift to correct parallels...in fact it defeats the purpose of a view camera altogether.
I have a couple of weeks to evaluate this, and would prefer to find a fix on the hardware side that I could perform myself, because I got a good deal on the camera and it is otherwise in fine shape.
Any advice or pointers to common problems or service diagrams would be appreciated.
Thank you from a LF newbie.
Mounting this lens in a new compur #0 in a recessed board gives me enough coverage and play to use the lift and tilt enough to justify some effort in landscape and architectural photography.
The problem, which is appearing quite serious, is that the lens board and its mount, in the short bellows configuration, is not supported by the natural friction of the rack and pinion gear that elevated and lowers the lens relative to the focal axis. It is too stiff and heavy, or the rack and pinion arrangement is in need of some adjustment or repair. I suspect the latter. If I let the camera sit on its own, the front slips down in the standard of its own weight no matter how extended the bellows are.
I tried a shim with wood, afraid that metal might mar the guide opposite the actual rack and pinion gear. It lasted a few minutes, enough to take one exposure if the front lens board carrier is dead level with the front support. But that doesn't solve the problem of using lift to correct parallels...in fact it defeats the purpose of a view camera altogether.
I have a couple of weeks to evaluate this, and would prefer to find a fix on the hardware side that I could perform myself, because I got a good deal on the camera and it is otherwise in fine shape.
Any advice or pointers to common problems or service diagrams would be appreciated.
Thank you from a LF newbie.